From the very beginning of "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall," we know that Granny's not your typical sweet old lady. She's not about to be all polite and docile just because that's how some people expected women to be back in the days before Girl Power became a popular slogan. In that way, Granny is all about defying traditional expectations of women. At the same time, Granny's traditional roles as wife and mother have been crucial to shaping who she is—some might even say she's a little too wrapped up in these roles. One thing's for sure: Granny is one complicated woman.
Questions About Women and Femininity
- As critic Caroline Collins suggests, we might expect that being jilted would've really soured Granny on the whole marriage and kids thing, but she went on to wholeheartedly embrace both. How has being jilted affected Granny's identities as a wife and mother? (Source)
- Do you think Granny would have been as profoundly impacted from being jilted if she were a man?
- Why is Granny so hostile to Cornelia?
- In this story, we're invited into Granny's head. To what extent have Granny's roles as wife and mother influenced her consciousness or thought patterns?
Chew on This
Granny's failure to conform to conventional expectations about how a woman should behave is what makes her an unlikeable character (on the surface, at least).
Granny's barely had an identity apart from being a wife and mother. Maybe that's why she's so cranky.